I hate to miss the Mayan Apocalypse, but there’s some nasty weather outside. I’ll catch it on teevee.

Anyhoo — I don’t know what went on in the House last night, but by all accounts it was a total GOP core reactor meltdown. You know it’s bad when even Jennifer Rubin realizes her guys are acting like petulant teenagers.

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OK, I was skeptical about the whole Mayan Apocalypse thing, but I just read a Jennifer Rubin piece in which she compared Republicans to petulant teenagers and said the Democratic argument that the GOP was unreasonable and care only for the rich was now a political reality.

That’s definitely the End of the World As We Know It.

This has to be the most spectacular face-plant by a Speaker in living memory.

For those who want the world to end, but don’t think it’ll happen today, let me give you some hope:
The Mayan civilization predates the Gregorian calandar, so maybe they were on the old Julian calendar (snark), and this would make the end day January 3rd, 2013, instead of December 21st, 2012..

Sad note about today – it would have been my late Father’s 87th birthday. Happy Birthday, Pop. We miss you!!!

Last evening, we watched Boehner perfom his solo “Kabuki Dance of Suicide.”

I really don’t understand what he was thinking.

Boehner is not a Teabagging firebrand. Far from it. He is an old-school corrupt Republican, with either hand always ready for a bribe, or to pay for a favor, and always working to make his Corporatist and rich friends happy.

Boehner is a very weak leader, and could easily lose his Speakership very soon.
But who would want it?

Not even Congressman Iago Cantor. I can’t see him wanting it, because any deal he proposes that even has a hint of coming to terms with Obama and the Democrats, will result in him being called a party-traitor, and will likely cause his own House rebellion.

Then how about Ryan? Rinse and repeat of Cantor?

I don’t think Cantor has Presidential asperations. Ryan does. So why would he even think about becoming Speaker, and trying to work with the Senate and the President? He’ll lose his Conservative “Wonk” scholarship in the MSM.

So, unless Boehner steps down, I don’t think he’s going anywhere.

Anyone who replaces him, and who’s not a Teabagger, had better inherit the Speakers liquor cabinet – he’ll need it. And there’s no incentive for one of the Teabaggers to lose FOX-cred, by taking the job and – there’s that N-word again – NEGOTIATING.

The only losers here, are “We the people.”
But then, many of us deserve it, for voting in bridge trolls with a perfect vacuum between their ears, and souls of rusted steel.
Unfortunately, we all hang together.

Is the NRA going to pay for the armed guards at all the schools? Or is the PTA supposed to provide volunteers? Or what?

The Plan B fiasco is pretty comical, except of course that it’s not at all inconceivable that the 113th Congress will simply be unable to function. That’s a little scary. Is Obama going to be put in a position where he’s going to have to do things without Congressional authorization?

For instance, I strongly suspect that we are not going to default on our debts, whether the House lunatics agree to raise the debt ceiling or not. So Obama invokes the 14th Amendment, the Republicans scream about usurpation and tyranny, but what’s he supposed to do? Not pay the debts of the United States? They could maybe get the Supreme Court to order him to stop paying the debts of the United States, but I can’t imagine that would be a very popular decision. Obama could probably get away with pulling an Andrew Jackson: “Roberts has made his decision. Let him enforce it.” So then we get another impeachment. Fun!

Regarding the NRA proposal – NPR put the cost of an armed guard at every school at just under 8 billion per year. Which might be acceptable if it insured the safety of all students but.. if you are willing to use a high-powered rifle and you know there is only one guard – the safe money is on the attacker with a rifle over the guard with a holstered pistol. Not even a contest.

The NRA proposed volunteer security – armed of course – untrained…*sigh* NPR again pointed out the cost of liability insurance using volunteers.

Re the meltdown in the House. There will be no deal – period. Boehner punted to Obama and the Senate to do something. Anything they come up with won’t pass in the House but it will still be important. Whatever the Senate passes and the POTUS agrees to will be the deal on the table. If that deal generally passes muster with the voters.. either the House will have to negotiate the best compromise with that deal as the basis… or refuse to deal.

The teabaggers WANT the confrontation. The fury of the American people will fall on the GOP – according to all the polls. This will totally hit the fan next year. C U N D Gulag is right – there is no one who can negotiate a deal from the GOP side.

The House would love to force Obama into a move that they can use to bring impeachment but… the Senate won’t do it. If the GOP won’t budge (possible) and the economy tanks (also possible) and the public decides the GOP is to blame (polls run 2 to 1 against the GOP here)… the midterms could be a massive sweep for democrats – a FDR majority in the House and Senate. A lot of ifs there I admit.

On the course we are on – the GOP will take a massive hit in the midterms. I see no other possible outcome.

Boehner is saying that Obama is going to be responsible for the largest tax increase in American history…That sounds to me like the words of a desperate man. One false move and the military budget gets it,Boehner…Our troops will be left in the field without bullets.

“Is the NRA going to pay for the armed guards at all the schools? Or is the PTA supposed to provide volunteers?”. Or we could ban assault rifles, which would cost NOTHING and would provide better security to the schools. If you could add together the IQ’s of the whole membership of the NRA, I am not sure you’d get to 100.

Years ago I did an intake interview at the home of a middle aged couple down where Erinyes lives. To this day they stand out as the craziest couple I ever dealt with in my life. Somehow they managed to survive in the real world, but how they managed, or for how long, I can’t say. She was no longer capable o working, but he had steady employment as a security guard and he carried a gun at work.

Can you imagine how many dangerous people could slip through the screening procedure?